Park Acoustics: My 2 cents on the 3rd edition of 2015

The author recently visited Park Acoustics, a monthly music event at Voortrekker Monument in Pretoria featuring bands, DJs, and comedians. Selected for Canon's Create With Canon campaign, they documented the third edition of 2015 using a Canon Powershot SX 600 HS. The lineup included Boxer, Sannie Fox, BEAST, Black Cat Bones, and Shadowclub. The author found the performances energetic and impressive, particularly praising BEAST's powerful vocals and musicianship.

I went to Park Acoustics recently, but before I delve into that. It’s time to inform you about what’s been going on…

Last month I was selected to #CreateWithCanon. Canon has given me the pocket-friendly Canon Powershot SX 600 HS to use over the next 3 months. I have been snapping images and capturing videos to showcase the quality that this camera delivers and to give you an inside look into the things that I’ve been getting up to.

The first article I did in this post series a while ago featured Sowing The Seeds (at Emmerentia dam in Johannesburg). Today’s article covers the last edition of Park Acoustics that I’ve attended.

In case you did not know: It’s monthly music event that takes place on the other side of the Juskei river at the Voortrekker Monument in Pretoria. Picture this: A day of fun in the sun with bands and DJ’s, topped off with comedians. What better way do you need to end a month?

Here are my 2 cents on the 3rd edition of Park Acoustics for 2015

I made my way to Voortrekker Monument around 10 AM on Sunday the 29th of March after recovering slightly from my party efforts with the crazies in the photo below this paragraph (at Rise & Shine Festival) and my Red Bull overdose (at Arcade Empire) from the day before. Before you could say “Create” I was through the gate of the reserve and on my way up the hill to Fort Schanskop in one of the Park Acoustics buses.

I missed half of the first act (Boxer), but I was in time to catch the Sannie Fox set. This lady and her band mesmerized me with some slow Blues with catchy lyrics. Machinery might not be a band anymore, but hell, this lady can still sing.

Next up were BEAST. If you’re unsure of whom I’m talking about: Remember Inge Beeckman from LARK? Well, she has another band and they are pretty damn hardcore.

This is mostly because her vocals are pretty piercing and well, BEAST has two bassists that you simply can not ignore: Louis Nel (the drummer from Taxi Violence) and Rian Zietsman (one of the guitarists from Taxi Violence). I just want to add that drummer kicks ass as well. Needless to say, if you missed their set, you missed out.

Here’s a snippet of the BEAST set (captured with the Canon Powershot SX 600 HS):

The next act at this edition of Park Acoustics was the Black Cat Bones. These Pretoria blokes recently swapped out one Jason for another Jason (Hinch for Oosthuizen) on drums. Their style is slightly different now, but they really got crowd up, swaying, dancing and singing along to their tunes (as usual). You could definitely see why these blokes won the MK Award for Best Live Act in 2013 and why they were nominated for a SAMA a year or so ago.

Here’s a snippet of their energy on stage (captured with the Canon Powershot SX 600 HS):

The last act of the day were Shadowclub. These blokes were pretty damn awesome because apparently they managed to get a mosh pit going at a Sunday gig in Pretoria. Sadly I wasn’t there when it happened, but I wish I was. Luckily my spirit is always at Park Acoustics, so I guess that was okay.

Sadly I had to leave Park Acoustics early because I had another gig / birthday party / going away party to get to at Tings ‘n Times (a venue that has been dubbed one of the Park Acoustics after party venues), but I did manage to get my picture taken with this funny blonde at the party.

She’s not a Canon fan, but she’s smiling in the photo… To me this is proof that the #CreateWithCanon campaign is magical. All photos and videos on this post were captured with the Canon Powershot SX 600 HS.

This truly is a nifty and compact camera and I recommend it to every photographer who doesn’t want to carry around a huge DSLR camera. Like Canon South Africa on Facebook or follow them on Twitter to keep in touch, share, learn and #CreateWithCanon.

Watch this space for regular updates in the Music category on Running Wolf’s Rant.